Stop being dense. Perk combos are the only thing that really matter for power, and the problem is you're chasing numbers instead of building your character. You don't need to be max light to grind for great combos, and in fact I got my hunter to 700 light in a month playing Crucible almost exclusively. I can agree that exotics and enhanced perks are still a bit too rare, but saying that the grind is pointless is asinine. The point is building a stronger armory of perks and builds for different situations. I have also never run out of cores, again, playing Crucible almost exclusively. As of this writing I have dozens if fully MW weapons and armors.